Mississippi was still all about history for us. We visited Vicksburg, where the battle for control of the great Mississippi River was fought. It was an important place for both the Union and the Confederate Armies for their supply lines. I was really able to better visualize the difficulty and real struggle as I looked from hilltop to hilltop with the thought of brothers and fathers, side by side; not only fighting a war, but fighting the cold, the elements, and the topography.
And yes some guys rushed up the gullies during the battle. This was a beautiful area but very sombering looking over the markers of encampments locations.
WOW! I might have been a better history student if I had been traveling and home schooled on the road! Well…probably not but, it IS much more interesting with visual clues. We stopped by the little village of French Camp as well.
I also never realized that there was an inland Navy during the Civil war. I actually had pretty good history teachers but, I’m pretty sure if it came up, I was zoned out at that point. The Union’s river Navy was called the Brown water Navy. We visited the U.S.S Cairo. It was recovered from the bottom of the river. The metal parts, of course, survived the best but there were some of the ancient wood parts still left. It was pretty cool to see now, as it is; and as it was then, through photos. I enjoyed the visuals immensely.
And because Vicksburg is all about history this trip; we just had to visit the “most haunted house” in Vicksburg. Nothing paranormal happened for us but it was another of those “time capsule” homes. The different owners over the years added on to the house without feeling the need to renovation the older parts. The house came complete with a civil war cannon ball and a grave marker for the mass grave of Confederate soldiers that did not survive their hospital stay while the house was an infirmary during the war.
Thanks for checking on our travels! So on we go on our trip through the Southeast United States.
